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Charter News: 2015-16 March 25

Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes.

~Carl Friedrich Gauss

Dear Charter Families,

I trust you all had a nice holiday weekend and are ready for our upcoming Spring break next week. March is always a long month, with no Monday or Friday holidays.. and a big push toward finishing projects. As always, our programs have plenty going on with your students this week. I love hearing about what is happening in the classrooms, and stop in often to see their involvement. The difference in the collaborative engagement and peer-peer comfort level in each classroom is very telling; yes, we have completed ¾ of the year!

I hope that all of you have a plan to do something out of the ordinary as a family during the coming break. Even if just for a part of a day, may each of you step out of the norm and play, laugh, learn, explore in a way that makes you feel more alive, happy and excited. And may all of you have time to do nothing as well. ( boredom is underrated). For if children don’t have empty space in their calendar, they won’t know how to find their special interests and develop their hobbies. And may you take time to once again count your blessings, with your precious children being at the top of that list. They are such amazing and fascinating individuals!

Enjoy the moments.

~Rhonda

Parent Advisory Committee: Next meeting: Tuesday, April 12 3-4 pm in the Felton, Fall Creek office. PLEASE come to hear about and discuss the final changes in the Charter Renewal, and more about the Charter budget.

At our last meeting, we further discussed all Charter support everyone believed would benefit the students. Everyone was in agreement that they would like to add to our Mental health counselors time, as well as make sure we continue with math and possibly writing tutors. We discussed what All Charter events we would want to make sure got funded, which included an All Charter Play. An academic counselor is also one of the highest priorities, with College and Career education being implemented not just at the high school level, but all the way down the grades. We also discussed how we could ensure some level of music appreciation and/or music classes that would culminate in an All Charter performance at the end of the year. There was also interest in finding an environmental coordinator to support each program’s work in nature/their gardens.

PARENT EDUCATION NIGHT: Martha Kaufeldt’s Writing Workshop on March 23 was a success. 13 parents came and they all raved about the activities/evening. Some comments shared were: -Down to eath, useful ways to encourage writing. -Highly informational and easy to understand. -Gained plenty of new ideas. -Another workshop on this subject would be well received. -Super well-run, helpful and insightful. I learned a lot and am excited to practice some of the techniques with my children. -So worth coming to and will tell other parents they are missing out. -Great balance of hands-on activities and take-away material I can use at home. Thank you.

We will be planning parent education nights on a consistent basis next year, and yes, Martha will be facilitating quite a few of them. Please let me know if you have other presenters that you believe would be good for us to learn from. rschlosser@slvusd.org

2015-16 Notice for Statewide Tests – Smarter Balanced Assessment

What’s Going on in Our Charter School? ..little snippets of some of our programs.

Nature Academy : It was great to participate collaboratively with the high school in this way. The 7 &8th graders participated with the Fashion Show at the SLV High School. Hope Davis created a line of clothing that the fellow Nature Academy students modeled. High school students also modeled the quilts that the Nature Academy students created for the Stanford Neonatal unit. Finishing up jewelry casting,coding, Watershed hike, and fashion design electives. This Thursday 6-8th graders will be participating in a Google Virtual Reality interactive experience under the guidance of a parent who works at Google. The 6th grade class continue with their Country reports, and are working on their poetry unit as well as beginning their study on Egypt, already completing their work with hieroglyphics.

Coast Redwood High School: Senior Exit Portfolio - Due date: April 15 Community Service must be completed as well. AMPHITHEATER UPDATE: Phase 1 - clearing (Check) Thank you John, Ben, Katelyn, Vivianna and Alec. Phase 2 - continued clearing and terracing (Check) Thank you to the Praly family, the Weiss family, to Carl, to the Becker family, Viviana, Jonah, Mason, Alec, Ben, Amaya, Emily, Stella, the Beddell family, Cruz family and to Wade. Thank you to all the students who terraced on Friday after the Meeting of The Tribes! Fantastic job Ben, Jordan, Brynna, Mason, John, Stella and Claire. Phase 3 - complete (Check) Thank you to the Praly family, the Becker family, Viviana, Stella, Quinn, and Mason!Phase 4 - laying down the plank benches! On Saturday, all the legs were put in place. We very close to completing this fabulous project!

Coast Redwood Middle School:The class packed up 11 little fry and took them to Loch Lomond for release. In the morning, the kids paddle boated around the lake, investigating little coves. In the afternoon Ranger Judie and Jessica talked to us about the history of Loch Lomond, the watershed and water use in Santa Cruz. Half the kids went with Jessica and did water quality testing on the lake. They tested pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity. The other half went with Judie and gradually added lake water to the fry’s water to help them become accustomed to the warmer temperature, different smell, and different chemistry. While we waited for the fish to adjust, Judie led a discussion about the habitat. Once the fish were ready, the kids scooped them up in plastic cups, submerged the cups in the lake water and watched the fish swim away. Book Club: Andrea led a discussion on Sky Jumpers, which all the kids really seemed to like, so much so that they wanted to read the next book in the series this month. Next Book Club Meeting:Thursday, 2:15pm-3:15pm, 4/21: SKY JUMPERS #2: THE FORBIDDEN FLATS by Peggy Eddleman.

Quail Hollow Homeschool:It's Performance Week!!! QUAIL HOLLOW STEPPING STONES CLASS PRESENTS...Fee, Fi Fo Fum! Performed by 43 of our K-5 students in our 21st annual musical performance. Morning performances are at 10:30 (by reservation only) Evening performance Free for the community is on Tuesday, March 29, is at 6pm. All performances are at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) located at SLVHS.

Two Upcoming Events to plan ahead and start preparing for: Student Author's Fair on April 30

Students are encouraged to create books for the Student Author's Fair at the Capitola Mall. We will be offering book binding "how to's" during Stepping Stones and Voyager Classes. All students are welcome to attend bookbinding workshops. Quail Hollow Talent Show on May 18. Students and parents are encouraged to rehearse an offering for our Annual Talent Share. This year it will be held in the PAC at SLVHS. Look for details after Spring Break regarding "preview dates" with Amber. Each act must be rehearsed and shown to Amber prior to the Talent Show.

Fall Creek Homeschool: The class was treated to a visit from Sophie Webb, field biologist who specializes in birds and marine mammals. She presented a wonderful slide show featuring herself working in the field in Alaska, the South Pacific and all over the world. She showed us research vessels, her quarters, sketches, notebooks, and paintings of wildlife. She answered the list of questions the students had prepared for her, then she distributed a very thick stack of 8x10 glossies of all kinds of animals she has photographed, and helped students to try drawing animals from photographs. A wonderful workshop!

April 14-June 8: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Testing Window. (we will be sharing each program’s schedule in the program newsletter, and when we get back from our Spring break.